Arts Pasifika Awards 2003

The pioneer of
Pacific writing in New Zealand, a sculptor dedicated to
innovative work and two emerging artists – an opera singer
and multi-media artist - are recipients of the Arts
Pasifika Awards 2003, presented by the Pacific Arts
Committee of Creative New Zealand at a ceremony in Auckland
on Monday, 17 November.

The annual Arts
Pasifika Awards are the only awards in New Zealand aimed at
professional Pacific artists across all artforms. Chair of
the Pacific Arts Committee Marilyn Kohlhase said that this
year’s recipients range widely both in terms of artforms and
experience.

“What all of the recipients share is a
commitment to pursuing excellence and innovation in their
work,” she said. “These awards are about celebrating the
diversity and vibrancy of Pacific arts, and their
contribution to New Zealand’s profile as a creative,
innovative nation here in the Pacific.”

The pioneer of Pacific writing in New
Zealand, Albert Wendt is a distinguished novelist, poet,
short story writer, playwright and educator. Born in Apia,
Samoa in 1939, he first came to New Zealand to study at the
age of 13 on a government scholarship. After returning to
the Pacific for a number of years, he became professor of
New Zealand literature at the University of Auckland in
1988.

Wendt’s first novel, Sons for the Return Home,
was published in 1973. Since then, he has written six
novels, three collections of short stories, four collections
of poetry and a play, and has edited numerous literary and
poetry anthologies.

This year has been a series of
creative highlights for Albert Wendt. First was the
publication of Whetu Moana, the first anthology of
contemporary indigenous Polynesian poetry in English, edited
by Wendt along with Robert Sullivan and Reina Whaitiri. Then
in August, his latest – and longest - novel, Mango’s Kiss,
was launched. Although Wendt always has “four or five
projects on the go”, this novel was 18 years in the writing
and its publication a significant landmark. A month later,
his new play, The Songmaker’s Chair, premiered at the AK03
festival in Auckland.

This year, Wendt also accepted the
position of Citizen’s Chair in English at the University of
Hawaii. He will take up the two-year tenure in mid 2004 but
will retain his position at the University of
Auckland.

Albert Wendt’s books have won many awards over
the years and in 2001, he was made Companion of the Order of
New Zealand for his services to
literature.

******

Filipe Tohi of New Plymouth, awarded
the $5000 Pacific Innovation and Excellence Award:

Filipe
Tohi was born in Tonga and came to New Zealand in 1978 at
the age of nineteen. A sculptor of wood, stone and steel,
his work has been exhibited and is in public parks
throughout New Zealand and in countries as diverse as the
United States, Japan, Australia and France. His work has
also been purchased by the Chartwell Collection and this
year, he was commissioned by the Auckland City Council to
create a public artwork for the Onehunga Community Centre
and Library.

For the past decade, the New Plymouth-based
artist has been exploring the patterns and history of
tufunga lalava, the traditional Tongan binding system used
to lash together houses or canoes. Tohi describes lalava as
his people’s DNA and has created a new artform called
“lalavaology”.

“I’ve been working with Filipe for 15
years,” says curator and dealer Deborah White. “His lives
his life through lalava patterns and has documented more
than 3000 of them. These patterns actually speak about
Pacific cultures and are a metaphor for the human condition.

“Filipe is passionate about his art practice and
incredibly committed to researching and developing his
innovative work. His work is truly unique and he is in huge
demand internationally.”

In 2000, Tohi was Pacific
artist-in-residence at the Macmillan Brown Centre for
Pacific Studies at Canterbury University. He has been
undertaking a residency at Niigata University in Japan and
returned to New Zealand on 10 November. Among his
considerable achievements, Tohi participated in the 5th Lyon
Biennale of Art (2000), Pacific Notion in Sydney (2002) and
Pacific Ways of Knowing in New York
(2002).

Shigeyuki Kihara’s work fuses performance,
photography, language, art and fashion to explore issues of
identity and culture. “I’m constantly challenging myself to
explore new mediums. I love that cross-over journey where
all the artform boundaries are blurred,” says the Auckland
artist, who came to New Zealand from Samoa in 1989 at the
age of 16 and graduated from Wellington Polytechnic with an
advanced diploma in fashion design and technology in
1996.

A former fashion designer turned artist, Shigeyuki
Kihara is also a freelance fashion stylist. Her fashion
editorials have been published in magazines such as
Pavement, Pulp and Staple.

Kihara’s work has been
exhibited nationally and internationally, and her works are
in collections such as Te Papa Tongarewa and the Waikato
Museum of Arts and History. She also participated with the
performance group Pasifika Divas in the 4th Asia Pacific
Triennial of Contemporary Art in Queensland in 2002 and in
the House of Global Cultures in Berlin in 2003.

In
October, her latest digital print works, Fale aitu – House
of spirits, were exhibited at the Australian Centre of
Photography in Sydney and earlier this year, she was a
special guest speaker at the Clothing the Pacific conference
with the British Museum in London.

In an article about
Shigeyuki Kihara in the October issue of Australia’s Object
magazine, the writer Jim Vivieaere concludes: “Sigeyuki
Kihara was born to defy categorisation. Her very existence
blurs and challenges the organisation of mainstream thought
and practice ... She has stood uncompromisingly in her own
marginalised space, fully intending the world to come to
her.”

Daphne Collins’ singing
potential was recognised at secondary school in Auckland
where she was encouraged to study under the guidance of the
late Beatrice Webster. Since then, the Samoan soprano has
achieved significant success in various competitions,
performed to critical acclaim in operas and musicals, and
expanded her repertoire to include shows such as Michael
Parmenter’s dance opera, Jerusalem, and Classical Polynesia,
a work created and directed by the late Iosefa Enari. It was
premiered at the 1998 International Festival of the Arts in
Wellington.

“I’m very grateful to receive the Iosefa Enari
Memorial Award, which is dedicated to a man who always
motivated me and encouraged me to fight for what I believed
in,” Collins says. “Along with the honour attached to
receiving this award, the financial support will be a great
help as I pursue my goal of working in England or the United
States.”

Collins’ experience is broad and ranges from
grand opera and gospel to rock opera and traditional Samoan
music. Among her achievements are: third prize in the New
Zealand Herald Aria, Auckland (1992); second prize in the
Lockwood Aria, Rotorua (1997); and second prize in both the
Harris Aria in Napier and the Wendy Chatfield Aria on the
North Shore, Auckland (1998).

In 2000, Collins studied at
the Conservatorium of Music at Griffith University in
Queensland. After graduating, she has been preparing for
auditions and working intensely with Dr Margaretta Elkins.
She is also teaching, working with Opera Queensland, and
performing in concerts in Australia.

******

The Arts
Pasifika Awards 2003 were held at the Corban Estate Arts
Centre in Henderson and attended by approximately 150
guests.

Any ‘best of list’ has to be an exercise in wishful thinking, given the splintering of everyone’s listening habits... But maybe… it could be time for the re-discovery of the lost art of listening to an entire album, all the way through. Just putting that idea out there. More>>

An idiosyncratic selection by ten art curators, each of whom have chosen ten of their favourite works. Handsomely illustrated, their choices are accompanied by full-page colour prints and brief descriptions of the work, explaining in straightforward and approachable language why it is of historical, cultural, or personal significance. More>>

In Portacom City Paul Gorman describes his own deeply personal story of working as a journalist during the quakes, while also speaking more broadly about the challenges that confront reporters at times of crisis. More>>

Pugsley brings to life 25 exhilarating years of film making and picture screening in a sumptuously illustrated hardback published by Oratia that tells the story through surviving footage unearthed from the national film archives. More>>